Processing of auditory stimuli during tonic and phasic periods of REM sleep as revealed by event‐related brain potentials

SUMMARY The brain has been reported to be more preoccupied with dreams during phasic than during tonic REM sleep. Whether these periods also differ in terms of the processing of external stimuli was examined. Event‐related brain potentials (ERPs) to a frequent standard tone of 1000 Hz (P= 97%) and infrequent deviant tones of 1100 and 2000 Hz (P= 1.5% for each) were recorded (n= 13) during wakefulness and nocturnal sleep. An ERP wave (called REM‐P3) resembling a waking P3 wave was larger for the 2000 Hz deviant during tonic than during phasic REM sleep. Also the P210 wave was larger during tonic than during phasic REM sleep. A reliable mismatch negativity component appeared only in wakefulness. In summary, these results support the hypothesis that the brain is more ‘open’ for changes in an auditory input during tonic than phasic REM sleep.

[1]  C D Wickens,et al.  The Event-Related Brain Potential as an Index of Display-Monitoring Workload , 1980, Human factors.

[2]  E. Wolpert,et al.  The relation of eye movements, body motility, and external stimuli to dream content. , 1958, Journal of experimental psychology.

[3]  R Cammann,et al.  Event-related potentials to pitch change in an auditory stimulus sequence during sleep. , 1987, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology. Supplement.

[4]  H Lyytinen,et al.  Is the appearance of mismatch negativity during stage 2 sleep related to the elicitation of K-complex? , 1994, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[5]  H. Roffwarg,et al.  Spontaneous Middle Ear Muscle Activity in Man: A Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Phenomenon , 1972, Science.

[6]  D. Dinges,et al.  Performing while sleepy: Effects of experimentally-induced sleepiness. , 1991 .

[7]  J. Kenemans,et al.  Auditory event-related potentials to deviant stimuli during drowsiness and stage 2 sleep. , 1995, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[8]  G. Berlucchi,et al.  CHANGES IN THE AUDITORY INPUT IN WAKEFULNESS AND DURING THE SYNCHRONIZED AND DESYCHRONIZED STAGES OF SLEEP. , 1964, Archives italiennes de biologie.

[9]  H. L. Williams,et al.  Instrumental behavior during sleep. , 1966, Psychophysiology.

[10]  D. Goodenough,et al.  Erection Cycle During Sleep in Relation to Dream Anxiety , 1966 .

[11]  K. Campbell,et al.  The mismatch negativity to frequency deviant stimuli during natural sleep. , 1996, Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology.

[12]  R. Berger,et al.  Eye Movements during Active and Passive Dreams , 1962, Science.

[13]  I. Oswald,et al.  Eye movements and visually active dreams. , 1975, Psychophysiology.

[14]  C D Wickens,et al.  An Analysis of the Processing Requirements of a Complex Perceptual-Motor Task , 1983, Human factors.

[15]  P. Halász,et al.  Long latency evoked potential components in human slow wave sleep. , 1988, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[16]  H. L. Williams,et al.  Evoked Responses to Clicks and Electroencephalographic Stages of Sleep in Man , 1962, Science.

[17]  E. Donchin,et al.  Is the P300 component a manifestation of context updating? , 1988, Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

[18]  E. Klinger,et al.  Incorporation of concern- and nonconcern-related verbal stimuli into dream content. , 1981 .

[19]  G. Moruzzi.  ACTIVE PROCESSES IN THE BRAIN STEM DURING SLEEP. , 1963, Harvey lectures.

[20]  R. Näätänen.  The role of attention in auditory information processing as revealed by event-related potentials and other brain measures of cognitive function , 1990, Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

[21]  B. van Sweden,et al.  Auditory information processing in sleep: late cortical potentials in an oddball paradigm. , 1994, Neuropsychobiology.

[22]  L. Price,et al.  Variations in behavioral response threshold within the REM period of human sleep. , 1980, Psychophysiology.

[23]  D L Woods,et al.  Differential auditory processing continues during sleep. , 1991, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[24]  P Badia,et al.  Cognitive activity in sleep and responsiveness to external stimuli. , 1988, Sleep.

[25]  "Dream Deprivation": Effects on Dream Content , 1966, Science.

[26]  E. Weitzman,et al.  AUDITORY EVOKED RESPONSES DURING DIFFERENT STAGES OF SLEEP IN MAN. , 1965, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[27]  E. Wolpert.  A Manual of Standardized Terminology, Techniques and Scoring System for Sleep Stages of Human Subjects. , 1969 .

[28]  H. Moldofsky,et al.  Heart rate deceleration in REM sleep: an orienting reaction interpretation. , 1985, Psychophysiology.

[29]  F. Mauguière,et al.  Brain Processing of Stimulus Deviance During Slow‐Wave and Paradoxical Sleep: A Study of Human Auditory Evoked Responses Using the Oddball Paradigm , 1995, Journal of clinical neurophysiology : official publication of the American Electroencephalographic Society.